Hello, family!!!

Okay, okay, this letter will be a good one. I know I don’t really tell you a lot, but it is because it is the same every day and it isn’t really important stuff. But, you want more, I will write me in the 25 minutes I have.

I have officially survived my first 6 weeks or my first cambio in the mission field!!! It has gone fast and it is crazy. It has been hard, but I am learning little by little that I can do this with the help of Jesucristo. I am loving the work more and more. Which is great.

-- After emailing you all, we played futbol in the pouring rain at the stake center. Mondays are always super chill and good, and for some reason, most of the time it rains. Like today it is overcast and drizzling. But other days we walk in 100-degree weather. It is great. I love it. And I definitely have the missionary tan going on.

Hermano Isaias is doing great. He only has gone to church 2 times but he wants to be baptized this Saturday and he is ready to do it. So, we are going to teach him one more time tonight and see how we feel and if he really has a testimony and then we are going to call President Calderon to get permission since here in the mission our investigators need to go at least 3 times. The lessons with him are really spiritual and powerful, and he has invited his neighbors to listen to us. They are great and have questions that bring the spirit. Hermana Rosa, his neighbor, really wants to be baptized, but she knows it is unlikely since her husband works in the campo... I don’t know where this place is or what work is being done there but tons of the men here work there it makes it hard to teach and find people since we cant teach a woman alone... And he is also Buddhist (He is a Japanese man that speaks only Spanish) and so he doesn’t believe in civil marriage. But we have taught her about prayer and she has hope that one day it will happen.

I officially baptized someone! A little 10-year-old shy girl, Blanca!! My first baptism. I was really nervous and she was even more. The baptismal font water was super dirty, brown even, but whatever. I have a hard time remembering peoples names her since they can have like 5 different names. But, I did it and now I know what to do to expect and how to do it better next time.

Elder Chub and I always sing a special musical number at the baptism and every time, even though we don’t have the best voices, it sounds so great and the spirit just comes rushing in.

Letters and packages take 3 weeks to get here. You can send them and if you put stickers of the Virgin Mary on the package, no one will open them since the Catholics basically worship her.

Here there are Catholics, Jehovah Witness and Evangelicals. They are sometimes hard to talk to but we knock on every door. The people here are super nice and they like to listen to the word of God, just not act. We just need to find more people who the Lord has prepared.

For my feelings, every day is the same. I wake up for a new day, study and pray. For a while there, I was really struggling. I just wanted to be in America where there is air conditioning. I am happy now though. Ya, this is difficult as ever, but I am happy. Right now, I am learning to have faith and trust that God is with me.

My Spanish is coming along well. I can understand like 97% of what people say and I can speak pretty well, but I lack confidence in my Spanish sometimes, or I want to say a phrase or how I would say it in English, but it doesn’t work like that so sometimes the people are confused, but they are nice and understand that I am still learning. I have found people here who speak English and it is weird talking to them, I cant do it, my English is all broken and stuff. So I will just stick with my mission language.

More pictures. I bought a battery charger for super cheap here. So, more pictures, always!

Tonight, we will have 2 FHE lessons, one with Hermano Isaias and his large group and the other with Hermano Pablo, the grandpa of Serjio and Adimar the two other kids that we are teaching for baptism this Saturday.

I know I am here on the Lord’s errand and while it might be the same day in and day out,

 Talk to you next week! I love you all so much. Do better this week than last and don’t worry about me.

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Hello my family!

It has already been two weeks since my last email! Where has the time gone!!! Freak, I love you and thank you for your emails of love and for your prayers. 

Mom... Every once in a while people get packages and letters, but not a ton. But people do get them. Don’t worry about buying contacts, I don’t need nor want them. 

So this week has been good. We knocked on tons of doors and we found some people. It is hard to get these people to do anything because they are used to the Catholic way, but there are people. 

We are teaching three little kids. Serjio, 14, Edimar, 9 and Blanca, 10, and they will be baptized this Saturday! 

We found Hermano Isaias, who has been prepared by the Lord. He is ready to be baptized, but only needs to go to church 2 more times. It is crazy, Elder Chub and his companion knocked on their door before and nothing. But this time, we found Isaias and because of him, he has invited his daughter, her husband and his neighbors to listen and learn. 

They are progressing, but they need to be married first. Almost everyone here just live together and have kids. Crazy. 

Teaching by the Spirit has been great. Teaching in general is great. I love sharing my love for the gospel with these people. 

Here are some pictures for you. My room and house, what it looks like here and me and some Elders this Saturday. 

I have been praying to be able to forget myself and God has allowed me and is helping me do it. I am soooo much more happy here and even love the rice and the food. The heat is great and I LOVE IT:

I am happy. I don’t need anything, but if you feel like it, you can handwrite me a letter or send me a package. It is up to you. I will be sending letters next week... I am sorry... I forgot them. They are at my house. I am not sure how long it takes to get to you, but whateves. I LOVE YOU!!!

Your son and brother, 

And Bolivian...

Elder Jensen

Okay, the pictures might not come. But, know that I tried! I love you!

Montero Bolivia

Finally I get to write you and read all of your emails! It is wonderful to hear and see tons of pictures of my cute 6 month old neice and of my crazy brother in Guatemala!

Sorry, I didnt write last week. I hope you weren't too worried about me. We had a combined activity (playing futbol and eating lunch) with another zone and it went a little long. And then when we finally came to the internet cafe, all of the internet in Montero was down. And because we didnt have much time left, we couldnt wait for the internet to be back up.

Also, I wont be able to email you next week either. In Bolivia, the 10th, 11th, and 12th of February is Carnival, and we are locked in our house all three days. It is really bad. Elder Chub says there are just drunks everywhere, people breaking the law of chastity in the streets and just bad things. And so we will stay in our house for three straight days. 

I am slowly learning that the Lord didnt call me here to be the perfect teacher or to know Spanish right away, or even to work nonstop until I just dont want to be here anymore. No, He called me here for a reason, that He could shape me into the man I need to be. In my weaknesses, Heavenly Father called me to be His servant. 

I am happy when I am teaching the Lords children, my brothers and sisters here in Bolivia, the other times, I am not going to lie, it is hard. I just think about myself, and when our investigators dont keep their committments, Satan says to me, you arent even doing any good here, you are just wasting your time. Go home. 

But, this week especially, I have learned that I can do this work. That I can be here for 2 years and that I have to be. I have to do this hard work.

Mom- I dont wear my glasses, only at night. I still dont like them and I have just been wearing my contacts for 2 months. That way, I will have the ones that I have for 2 years. Not a problem. 

It has been raining here quite a bit, which I love. It just downpours and we just knock on talk to people as we are sopping wet. 

Yesterday was rough. We have people that we teach and they understand and are recieving answers and they feel good about the things we teach, but no one ever comes to church.. Why cant they just act on this faith that they have?

We are teaching a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, 17 years old born on my birthday. They are great, and the lessons are going really well. The boy, Jonny, used to laugh at my Spanish, but now he just listens and is good during our lessons. But, his parents died just in December and I was thinking about them, and how they must be praying for me and Elder Chub. That we can teach their kids the truth. 

It just hit me hard as we were teaching them, how many people truly must be praying for the missionaries right now. Every temple, every apostle, tons of people, both on this side and on the other side of the veil. Its incredible!

I know that I am supposed to be here, and I know that I can do this work! This week, I am going to try and dig in, pull of my socks to my armpits and not let go.

Thank you for your support, always. Dont worry about me. I am doing the Lords work. I am happy and healthy and protected by an Almighty God!! 

I love you all with my entire heart!

I will talk to you next week!

P.S. I am sorry that I dont answer all of your questions. But, it is hard to remember them all. So, just be happy with this. Haha.